The pretty girl on the pinto
by ThunderSocks
Summary: When Sam befriends a mysterious girl named Ayanna, the beautiful girl and her horse start seducing every male in northen Nevada. When Sam sees her with Jake, can she snap him out of Ayanna's spell? R
1. Exciting news

Chappy one.

'Sam, Wyatt, Brynna!' Yelled Sam's grandmother from the living room. The 13 year old raced in first and sat on the fluffy rug. Then her father and step mother appeared a minute later. They all settled down to watch for the news they had been waiting all day for. The opening credits for the news program came on and a tanned presenter began to speak in a clipped, professional tone.

'Linc Slocum, of Gold Dust Ranch, rural Nevada has today been arrested for money forgery. The supposed millionaire has been found printing money in his basement, after a building inspector came to look at the foundations of his house. Mr. Slocum was about to build an indoor pool adjacent to his basement,'

Sam looked around at her family's faces. They all read different expressions of 'huh?' With an excited squeal, Sam Forster started babbling. 'Calling Jen. Might go out for a ride. Be back before dark. Promise!' She squawked.

Sam ran upstairs and grabbed the pink mobile phone from underneath her bed. She dialled her best friend's number on the keypad. 'Hey Jen! I heard the news, tell me everything. Meet you at the watering hole in ten minutes. I have no credit left on my phone and it's about to die,' she said quickly before her phone died.

'Sam, take your mare. Dark Sunshine hasn't been ridden for a week!' Her dad called as she grabbed her Stetson off the hat rack. Sam gave her dad a thumbs up so he knew she heard.

Racing out into the ranch yard, Sam patted Ace on the neck before grabbing Dark Sunshine from the 10 acre pasture. She crossed tied her and quickly brushed the mud off her gleaming buckskin coat. The pretty mare stood at around 13.2hh, a small but dependable mount. After Sam rescued her from Wild horse rustlers, she discovered the mare was in foal. Gentling her whilst the mare was pregnant was tricky. Gentling her after she had given birth was even harder. Mustang mares were known to be protective over their young.

Sam draped the padded black saddle cloth on her mares back before dumping the black saddle on as well. She tightened the cinch before grabbing her bridle. She put it on without any fuss. Mounting, Sam nudged her into a balanced jog. She shied slightly going over the bridge. 'Easy girl,' Sam said, patting her neck to reassure her. Sunny wanted to gallop, so Sam let her. The small mare stretched her legs and covered the distance to the watering hole quicker than if she was on Ace.

She spotted Jen straight away. Her best friend sat on Silk Stockings, a very skittish palomino. She wore purple jeans, a black t-shirt and black high top trainers. Her braids flew around her as she waved ecstatically. Sam grinned and waved back. Pulling Dark Sunshine into a lope, Sam settled deep into the saddle, ready to stop.

'So, did you hear the news?' Jen squeaked from excitement the second Sam halted Sunny. The buckskin bent down to drink. When she was finished, the two mares touched noses.


	2. Unreal Arrivals

Chappy two.

'Yuppers,' Sam grinned. She scratched the back of her head, wondering why Jen was giving her a look that said 'There's more,'.  
'Well, we get Champ back and all Slocum's stock is sold. The money he makes is spread around his workers. Meaning, we could get more than $10,000!' Jen stood up in her stirrups and flung her arms out wide, a grin stretching from ear to ear plastered on her face. The pair babbled for ages, chatting about how good Sunny looks, how Jake is doing with her filly and how cute Jen thinks Ryan is.

An unexpected husky voice came from behind her. 'Hey Brat,' Jacob Ely grinned at her. The grin faded straight away when he noticed Jen. The two had never got on. They were both equally smart, but struggled to accept that Sam like them both the same. They were bickering when Jake's jaw practically hit the floor.

A near enough perfect pinto mare was jogging toward them. Her chin almost pressed to her chest. Every stride she took extended beautifully. The patches of black on white were spread evenly over her slim barrel. The rider was a different story.

Black waves tumbled down her back like a waterfall. The closer she got the more aqua blue her eyes shone. Her skin was a beautiful caramel colour and her clothes, her clothes were amazing. She wore faded denim jeans that gripped to her thighs and calves, before flaring at the bottom. She had light brown boots on that matched her complexion. Her strapless white top had golden beads on it and her russet coloured Stetson shaded her face.

She halted a few feet away and tapped the brim of her hat in greeting. 'My name is Ayanna, this is my horse Jazz' she said in a beautiful melodic voice. Sam noticed straight away that she only had eyes for Jake. Jen answered next. 'Hi Ayanna, I'm Jen Kenworthy. This is Sam Forster, the local wild horse whisperer. I love your horse, she is a beauty,' Sam's best friend answered for both of them, missing out Jake on purpose. Sam could see that Jen wanted him to say something stupid

Jake and Ayanna held eachothers eyes for what seemed like hours. 'I'm Jake Ely,' He spluttered.

'Nice to meet you Jake,' She said to him, before remembering there were other riders. 'Oh, and you two,' the way she said it was almost a dismissal.

Sam invited Ayanna back to River bend for dinner. She would let Jazz have a sleepover and Gram would drive Ayanna home that night. The next morning, Ayanna's mother would drop her off at River bend to collect her horse. As they clattered along the bridge, the four riders and their horse bantered easily among themselves. After they all dismounted, Ayanna shook hands with Brynna, Wyatt and Grace. They all loved her. Especially Pepper.

He happily led Jazz into the 10 acre pasture, where she immediately started grooming Strawberry. Witch and Silly were next to be led in. They trotted, heads held high, around the pasture. Dark Sunshine followed them in and went to her filly.


	3. The little things

Chappy three.

Pepper watched Ayanna intently. All the hands were staying for dinner along with Jake and Jen. Ayanna politely answered all the questions everyone asked. She and Ross talked for about 10 minutes. They conversed about all the different horses and ponies Ayanna's family owned. She had Jazz, her younger sister had a pure black Shetland pony named ebony and her mum and shared two horses; a bay quarter horse and a palomino Arab. Ayanna said that Dusty - the Arab – was the best cutting horse on the ranch. That set off a whole new conversation.

By the end of the main meal, Sam had found out alot of things about the beautiful girl sitting opposite her. Firstly, she just turned 15. Her family had moved from just outside of Nevada. They owned no cattle, but her father had just been hired by Brynna – who had no idea that Ben Bell was her father -.

After dessert was served, Ayanna excused herself to go to the toilet. Sam noticed Pepper looked disappointed when she went upstairs. Everyone else did to. 'Cmon Pepper, its plain as day that you like her,' Ross teased the blushing cowboy.  
'You h-h-have to admit it. She's gorgeous,' Pepper stuttered, looking around at a table full of giggling faces. The giggling stopped when Ayanna came down the stairs. Gram hustled everyone out of the kitchen so she could tidy up.  
'Ayanna dear, give me an hour, that would make it 8.00pm and i'll drop you off at your home,' Gram called as Ayanna floated through the door after everyone. A faint angelic 'Thank you Grace,' could be heard.

Pepper took his chance. 'I'll show you around if you like,' He said to her.  
She turned to face him and said 'Yeah, I'd like that,'.

Pepper grinned and shook his head in disbelief as he led her into the barn. She was too good to be true. Ayanna followed him in a walk that seemed to be a dance. She looked so graceful it was unreal. Her eyes took in all the images before her. Ace and Sweetheart nickered a hello to Pepper and Ayanna, who went over to the old mare and petted her neck. She turned round to see Pepper's face inches from hers. Pepper leant forward to kiss her lightly, Ayanna didn't push it any further than a peck. Her subtle way to say she's not interested.

'I'm sorry, I just don't like you in that way,' She murmured to him, stroking a finger down his face apologetically. 'Let's go watch the horses,' Ayanna added, hoping to make up for her not being interested. Pepper looked at Ross and then shrugged in a way that practically screamed 'She didn't want to,' He sighed as they leaned on the fence next to eachother.  
'I am sorry Pepper,' She whispered, looking him right in the eye.  
'Its fine. I think everyone in Nevada whose male and under twenty wants to try,' He smiled, winking.

Ayanna grinned back at him, glad he understood. She flicked a lock of inky black hair over her shoulder and watched the sun set with Pepper.


End file.
